Andy Ricker of Portland's Pok Pok snagged a semifinalist slot for Outstanding Chef, a category that also includes celebrity chefs Sean Brock of Nashville's Husk, Gabrielle Hamilton of New York's Prune and Michael Solomonov of Philadelphia's Zahav.

Tim Healea of Little t American Baker (Outstanding Baker), Kristen Murray of Maurice (Outstanding Pastry Chef) and Clyde Common (Outstanding Bar Program) also received semifinalist nods, while The Jory at the Allison Inn & Spa in Newberg is a semifinalist for its wine program.

Locally, eight chefs from seven Portland restaurants were named to the Best Chef Northwest long list. They are Greg Denton and Gabrielle Quinonez Denton of Ox, Kevin Gibson of Davenport, Gregory Gourdet of Departure, Trent Pierce of Roe, Sarah Pliner of Aviary, Ryan Roadhouse of Nodoguro and Justin Woodward of Castagna. Two other Oregon chefs were named semifinalists: Sunny Jin of The Jory and Joe Kim of 5 Fusion and Sushi Bar in Bend.

The Best Chef Northwest category recognizes chefs from an area stretching from Alaska to Wyoming -- this year's list includes chefs from Boise, Idaho and Girdwood, Alaska -- though winners typically come from Seattle or Portland.

In perhaps the day's biggest local snub, Nostrana's Cathy Whims' impressive run of consecutive Best Chef Northwest finalist nominations will end at six. Meanwhile, Stephen McCarthy of Clear Creek Distillery was dropped from the Outstanding Wine, Spirits or Beer Professional category after making the cut each of the past three years. And Kurt Huffman, the ChefStable restaurateur who helped expand Pok Pok and opened Ox, Roe, St. Jack, Gruner, Lardo and a dozen other restaurants in Portland and Seattle, was again left off the Outstanding Restaurateur list.

Wednesday's announcement represents the foundation's long list, a once secret ballot with 20 names in each category, until recently seen only by judges. The five official nominees will be announced March 24. This year's awards show -- often called "the Oscars of food" -- will take place at the Lyric Opera of Chicago on May 4.